This morning we had to go over to the Air Force Base to work out details of our move. Lucy had to go with us because she was home sick today. While we were getting our passes at the gate she whispered to me "I don't want Daddy to die in the Navy". That hit me pretty hard. I pulled her up in my lap and asked why she thought that. I was already tearing up. Then she told me it was because of the movie we watched. The one with the man that turned into a fish and had silly glasses. The Incredible Mr. Limpet. At first I had to laugh because that was so far from what I expected. The concern she has, though, is real and not very funny at all. Several people have asked me about the risks and dangers that Kevin might face in the next few years so I thought I would try and explain what we feel and to have something to look back on in case we forget somewhere along the way.
I will never promise my kids that nothing bad will ever happen to us or them. There is too much bad out there for that to be true. I will tell them that we will do everything we can to keep them safe and for us to be safe. Kevin will be stationed with the Marines and as we heard last week most Marines will end up in Afghanistan sometime in the near future. He will go wherever his unit goes. Among the list of men and women that have died in these most recent wars, none of them have been Chaplains. When he is deployed he will have someone with him that is armed to protect him. He also has to stay in the most safe places because he can't carry a weapon and would be a liability. It is obviously a dangerous part of the world but it is also a place where people like Kevin are needed. We can't make promises we can't keep and life in general is a risk. My kids aren't promised health. I'm not promised safe trips to the grocery store. What can be promised is love. So we are going to love each other through all of this. And, as Randy Harris suggested last Sunday, we are going to choose joy in the midst of terror. We choose not to be scared of life. We choose Joy. Now, hopefully we can get that message across to our kids successfully.
On a much lighter note, but the reason for the conversation this morning, here is a clip starring the great Don Knotts.
